I know I used to be the kind of guy that would talk shit about roosters like they wake up too early and have terrible singing voices, but all of this changed when I met Carlos.

There's a good chance we'll never know why, but this lonesome rooster we encountered about halfway up to Te Rua Manga / The Needle joined us for the trek to the summit and for about another hour afterwards. He kept perfect pace with us, hanging back about a metre, stopping whenever we did to just chill and occasionally rotate his head with all the grace of a murderous raptor. I don't know if other tourists feed him or if our plodding footsteps brought up worms, but I prefer to think he just liked the cut of our collective jib.

I know I used to be the kind of guy that would talk shit about roosters like they wake up too early and have terrible singing voices, but all of this changed when I met Carlos.

There's a good chance we'll never know why, but this lonesome rooster we encountered about halfway up to Te Rua Manga / The Needle joined us for the trek to the summit and for about another hour afterwards. He kept perfect pace with us, hanging back about a metre, stopping whenever we did to just chill and occasionally rotate his head with all the grace of a murderous raptor. I don't know if other tourists feed him or if our plodding footsteps brought up worms, but I prefer to think he just liked the cut of our collective jib.